Hello West Nova Fuels & Superline Fuels followers! I’m Kingsley, a heating technician for the West Nova Fuels Lunenburg branch! If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to fix heating systems I’ve got you covered! Today I’m going to give you a little insight on what my day-to-day life is like at my job!
My alarm goes off at 6am! You have to be an early riser as a technician so you can fit as many customers in as possible each day. We don’t want to leave anyone without heat! By 7:30am I’m checking my appointments for the day and making sure I’ve got all my tools and the correct inventory for what I’ll be doing that day. On average, I do four furnace cleanings and at least two service calls each day, though sometimes we can get as many as five to six service calls. Did you know keeping your furnace clean is one of the best ways to ensure you don’t need costly repairs? A clean furnace is an optimally working furnace! Check out our blog on furnace cleaning here.
By 8:30am I’m arriving at my first appointment, usually a cleaning, which can take around two hours so I’ll be moving on to my next appointment at 10:30am. Of course my schedule for the day can depend on whether any emergency calls come in. In these situations it usually means there’s no heat in a customer’s house and, as we all know, that can be pretty uncomfortable in a Nova Scotian winter. More than anything I love my job because I’m here to make you comfortable. It’s very rewarding to help a customer stay warm in the winter, so when an emergency call comes in I’ll finish whatever job I’m doing and get to that customer as soon as possible.
If everything goes well, then after I’m done dealing with the emergency I can go back to my original cleaning schedule, but sometimes emergency calls can take longer than anticipated and we may have to reschedule appointments to another day.
One of my favourite calls that has ever come in was actually one of the most simple fixes I’ve done! The customer was complaining of their furnace making a loud noise, which could have meant anything, but when I got there we discovered there was a radio hidden in the furnace room that was out of tune and playing static noises. Problem solved! Both the customer and I had a good laugh about it.
By 5:30pm I’m finishing up for the day and completing my daily paperwork to make sure everything is recorded properly. If I’m on call I’ll make sure my phone is on so if any overnight emergency calls come in I can respond quickly and get our customers and their family’s warm again.
I have to say, living and working in Nova Scotia is pretty special, I love the slow pace and the ocean views, and West Nova Fuels is a great company to work for because they are always looking to give back to the communities they serve. I hope our customers feel the same!
Thanks for joining me for a day-in-the-life of a technician! If you want to check out what my colleagues, the delivery drivers, get up to each day check out the Day in the Life of a Delivery Driver post here.
And finally, you can also watch a timelapse of some of my work below. Here’s a look at what an oil burner servicing looks like! Please keep in mind that this video was recorded before the pandemic so that is why I am not wearing a mask. We take our customers and employee’s health seriously and take all precautions necessary when coming into your home.